London Baroque is a

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

formed in 1978 by

Charles Medlam Charles Medlam is an England, English Conductor (music), conductor and cello, cellist also known for his performances on viola da gamba. Medlam studied the cello with Jane Cowan (1915–1996) in London, Paris, Vienna and Salzburg Mozarteum before ...

and Ingrid Seifert. Its members are Ingrid Seifert and Richard Gwilt (violins), Charles Medlam (cello &

viola da gamba The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

) and Steven Devine (

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

and organ). Its repertoire ranges from the late 16th up to late 18th century. London Baroque is a regular visitor at the festivals of Salzburg, Bath, Beaune, Innsbruck, Utrecht, York,

Bachwoche Ansbach The Bachwoche Ansbach (Ansbach Bach Week) is a biennial music festival in Ansbach, Germany, dedicated to the life and works of Johann Sebastian Bach, held since 1947. The main venues are the Orangerie and the great hall of the palace Residenz Ansb ...

and Bachwoche Stuttgart. London Baroque has appeared on television in England, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Estonia and Japan.

Recordings and reviews

London Baroque's recording releases have been widely acclaimed.

Charpentier Charpentier () is the French language, French word for "carpenter", and it is also a French surname; a variant spelling is Carpentier. In English, the equivalent word and name is "Carpenter (surname), Carpenter"; in German, "Zimmermann (disambigua ...

's instrumental music (H.548, H.504, H.545, H.496), a world premiere in 1986 was well received by the specialised press. Their recording with

Emma Kirkby Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings. Education and early career Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dorse ...

of Handel cantatas was described as "Sympathetic and alert... with some finely poetic playing." (''Gramophone'', September 2001) and "They have never made a better disc and neither have I heard a superior performance of any Handel trio sonata." (Goldberg, July 2001). Of their release of Vivaldi Op. 1 trio sonatas, a reviewer said "London Baroque bring their customary virtues to these performances, including excellent internal rapport and blend, a richly mined string tone, passion and intensity." (''Gramophone'', March 2001).

External links

London Baroque websiteLondon Baroque recordings

References

{{Authority control Baroque music groups Chamber orchestras